Plan ahead to defrost foods. Never defrost food on the kitchen counter at room temperature. Thaw food by placing it in the refrigerator, submerging air-tight packaged food in cold tap water (change water every 30 minutes), or defrosting on a plate in the microwave.

Women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children should avoid some types of fish and eat types lower in mercury.

Using Proteins on a Budget

While some proteins may be the spendier items on your shopping list, such as those you find at the meat counter, there are many ways to incorporate proteins on a budget. Here are some quick tips:

Use healthy, affordable proteins like beans, eggs, and canned fish several times per week...replace half the ground meat in tacos with your favorite beans, use canned tuna or salmon in your next casserole or top a salad with hard boiled eggs for protein power.

Check store flyers before you shop. If you have enough space in your freezer, buy in bulk whatever is on deep discount and freeze what you won’t use right away.

Time-saving tip: Dried beans are great when you have the time to soak them, but canned beans are a great time-saver for weeknight meals. Rinse and drain before using to cut the sodium by almost half, or look for low-sodium or no salt-added versions.

Chuck or bottom round roast has less fat and is often less expensive than sirloin.

Greek Yogurt has twice the protein as other yogurt, but watch out for sugars. Read the label. It's usually better to buy plain Greek yogurt and add your own ingredients like fruit or nuts.

One egg costs about 10 cents and has about 4-6 g of protein. If you're watching your fat and cholesterol, two egg whites have no fat or cholesterol and 7-10 g of protein.